


radio romance

by dimsum



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, hyuck works in a record shop, i think, they're asian american high schoolers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 01:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19801591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimsum/pseuds/dimsum
Summary: Donghyuck adheres to the store's 'no refund' policy a little too strongly for Renjun's taste.





	radio romance

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my nct fic debut!!! i wrote this instead of college essays!!!
> 
> tried to do an exercise in creating mood and stuff but i ended up focusing on dialogue like i always do. the first half and the second half might seem really disconnected because i wrote them in two different sittings and forgot what i was going for when i started. classic me move. 
> 
> i don't typically like renhyuck's dynamic in fic, but when i wanted to write a small record shop snippet my brain was like "it has to be renhyuck," so yeah. 
> 
> haven't posted fic in like? a year? i think? so excuse me if i'm a bit rusty. writer's block + school stress is always a bitch.
> 
> rated g because there are like 2 swears but basically nothing happens. unedited because i haven't posted in so long and it's 1 am and i just really want to post something.

“It’s been a while, Renjun,” drawls Donghyuck, elbows resting on the checkout counter. He’s watching a vinyl spin on one of the record players and doesn’t look up when Renjun walks in. He doesn’t need to; he’d recognize the jangle of Renjun’s bracelets anywhere.

Renjun brings in noise where there wasn’t before. He’s not particularly loud on his own, but in the absence of anything but the faint background noise of “Blowing in the Wind” and the hot, low buzz of summer, his presence is almost deafening. The cheap nickel of his bangles clinks as he jams his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“Been busy,” offers Renjun, lamely, and Donghyuck fixes him with a lazy stare to make sure he knows how poor of an excuse that is. “Schoolwork’s piling up.”

The tips of Donghyuck’s mouth quirk up against his will. He’s never been good at staying mad at Renjun for long. “Tell me about it. You start reading _Catcher in the Rye_ yet?”

Renjun shakes his head, freshly dyed blonde hair falling into his eyes. “We’re still on _The Scarlet Letter_. I haven’t read a single word of that book.”

Donghyuck smirks knowingly. “Sparknotes is my lord and savior.”

Slowly, he starts to move again — cracks his back, rolls his neck, lifts up the needle and switches out the Peter, Paul and Mary for a Frank Sinatra track. One of Renjun’s favorites. The first notes of “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” croon out of the player, wafting out into the otherwise stagnant air and curling around his head.

If Renjun notices his choice of song today, he doesn’t comment on it. He’s prodding at one of the racks near the door, sifting through the selection as leisurely as always. “You’ve got some new stuff.”

“It’s not that new,” says Donghyuck, turning up his nose and affecting a dramatic air somewhat akin to what he imagines Marilyn Monroe would be like. “You just haven’t stopped by recently enough to see the latest updates to our catalog.”

Renjun holds up the K-pop albums close to his face, scrutinizing the bright, flashy colors of the packaging. They’re an anachronism among the muted tones of the rest of the albums on sale, screaming the modernity of the end of the decade in a vintage record shop that looks like it belongs somewhere thirty years back. “ _Map of the Soul: Persona_?” he asks, almost to himself.

Donghyuck nods towards the bottom of the rack with all their newer stuff. “It’s alright. I think the _Tempo_ album would be more your style.”

Renjun sets the album back on the rack in its proper place. “And what makes you think you know what my style is?”

“Call it a hunch.” Donghyuck grins at him, slow and cat-like.

Renjun rolls his eyes, but tucks the _Don’t Mess Up My Tempo_ into the crook of his elbow anyways. “If I don’t like it, you’ll let me return it, right?”

“How long have you been coming here?” Donghyuck asks, hands slapping down on the counter above the sign that says ‘No Returns or Exchanges.’ The little keychains hanging on a stand make tinkling sounds as they run into each other. “You have a better chance of learning to fly than getting a refund. You know how my hard-ass manager is. And what makes you think I’ll be wrong about you and that album, hmmm?”

“You wanna know what I think?” Before Donghyuck can scoff at him, Renjun pushes on. “I think you’re too mean to Doyoung.”

“It’s because he deserves it,” declares Donghyuck. “It’s my responsibility as a dutiful younger brother to make all of Taeyong’s boyfriends’ lives hard.”

Renjun rolls his eyes, again. He’s been doing that a lot lately, just rolling his eyes whenever Donghyuck does something dumb like poke fun at his boss and brother’s best friend-turned-boyfriend. Something about him is different. He seems volatile, restless today. He’s brimming with an odd energy that keeps threatening to burst out.

“Speaking of Doyoung, where is he?” Renjun asks, belatedly looking around for a manager that isn’t there. The aisles are filled with CDs but no people. “Sicheng wanted his help with something.”

Donghyuck rests his chin in his hands again, shoulders dropping as he grumbles. “Date night. Taeyong’s back from college for summer break and Doyoung made reservations for that new Asian fusion bistro. He didn’t even promise to bring me back leftovers, the nerve of him.”

“A whiny brat like you doesn’t deserve leftovers,” says Renjun.

“No matter how much you insult me, you’re not getting a refund.”

Renjun glares at him, hugging the album to his chest protectively. “I haven’t even bought the damn thing yet, will you wait a minute.”

“Renjun Huang, if you curse again, I’ll rub your mouth out with soap like all the white moms do to their boys,” Donghyuck mimics Renjun’s mom in a perfect imitation of her sharp, oscillating voice. “Sicheng never gave me this much trouble.”

“Donghyuck Lee,” Renjun quips back at him in _his_ mom’s voice, “stop bothering the big boys and do your homework! God knows your grades need it.”

Donghyuck scowls. He has a C in Physics right now, but Renjun doesn’t need to know that. “What makes you a big boy?”

“I’m three months older,” says Renjun, smug. “And I know more curse words in Chinese than you do in Korean.”

“Ah, yes,” says Donghyuck, forcing as much sarcasm as humanly possible into his voice, “curse words, the mark of maturity. Teach me your ways, o wise old sensei.”

“I’ll consider bestowing my age-old wisdom upon a lowly mortal such as yourself,” says Renjun, dragging the last word out. Donghyuck waits for the _but_. “If you agree to give me a refund if I don’t like the album.”

Donghyuck narrows his eyes, pretending to consider it. Maybe some of Renjun’s weird energy is rubbing off on him, because he suddenly finds the daring to say, “I’ll make you a bet. If you don’t like the album, I’ll buy it from you, full price. I’ve been trying to get a Chen photocard anyways.”

Renjun pretends to mulls it over, aware that with Donghyuck, there’s always a catch. He tosses the album from hand to hand, like he’s fidgeting with an old baseball and not a wrapped package worth nineteen bucks. Donghyuck wants to yank it out of his grasp and set it firmly on the counter before Renjun drops it with his butterfingers, but he refuses to move. It’s the principle of the thing, he argues, pinning Renjun with his eyes in a standoff. Suddenly the air feels so much more charged than before. He’s almost scared to breathe, for fear of breaking whatever atmosphere has fallen around them.

“And if I do like it?” says Renjun, after an extended pause.

Donghyuck’s rigid where he rests his palms on the counter. “Go on a date with me.”

Now it’s Renjun’s turn to smirk at him. The expression on his face is foreign, new. Donghyuck almost doesn’t believe it when he says, “Deal.”

Then he slaps a twenty on the counter and strides out, not bothering to say goodbye or wait around for his change. Donghyuck pockets the extra coins and slams the cash register shut. The chills racing down his arms and spine fade away, and the simmering heat sets back in. He turns the fan up.

The shop looks the exact same, minus one _Don’t Mess Up My Tempo_ album, but Donghyuck’s heart is pounding like a tornado suddenly blew through, turning everything upside down. Everything’s the same, and yet it’s not.

Because in less than 24 hours, he will have plans for a date with Renjun. He’s known Renjun for sixteen years too long to not know that he’ll love every single track on that album. Donghyuck never makes a bet he can’t win.

So he settles back into his original position, back hunched and elbows on the checkout counter, and he waits.

\- 

_moomin addict: BRUH GRAVITY IS SUCH A GOOD SONG WTF_

_moomin addict: i literally can’t understand jackshit but it’s. so good._

_> >> damage is better but go off i guess_

_> >> also :)_

_> >> i’ll pick u up at 6_

**Author's Note:**

> i think i wanted them to be like store employee and regular customer that don't interact outside of the shop and want to get to know each other better?? and then it ended up being best friends who are kind of into each other, oops. 
> 
> i have a twitter but it's old and dead and kind of embarrassing, so we're not going into that. but if you liked it, please leave some words of encouragement! every comment makes my day :)
> 
> edit: my twitter is @xiaojidiing pls talk to me


End file.
